Tiny Habits: Can They Improve Health?

What is a Tiny Habit?

This year I really want to move more each day. I am fascinated with the idea of Tiny Habits to help me reach this goal.  According to B.J. Fogg, a “Tiny Habit is a new behavior that you do at least once a day, that takes you less than 30 seconds to accomplish, and that requires little effort. It must be a ridiculously easy behavior.” “The easier the behavior, the less it depends on motivation,” says Fogg. And it must always be introduced right after an existing, established behavior. Applying these criteria, Fogg constructs a Tiny Habit with this model: “After I [existing habit/anchor], I will [new tiny behavior].” For example, “After I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth.” He also instructs us to celebrate after we complete a tiny behavior with something like “Way to go, champ!” or “Great Job!”

My Tiny Habit Plan

As I mentioned in my last post, I determined to walk for 1-2 minutes after each trip to the bathroom. However, I quickly forgot my tiny habit. I decided that the problem was that I needed a sign on the bathroom mirror to remind me. Fibro fog does not help me to remember. I just walked upstairs and taped a pink post-it note to my bathroom mirror with the word WALK on it. Now I have a goal and a reminder. I also made a note for my computer that says CELEBRATE to remind myself to celebrate after I walk, since I spend a lot of time on my computer.

I hope to be able to tell you next week that I have remembered to walk after using the bathroom and that my steps on my Garmin have increased. Currently I log around 4000 per day. I got a Garmin last April and it does motivate me to walk more, but I feel like I need something else.

I am also using the Healthy Moving program. Jen Hoffman uses yoga and healthy moving “vitamins” to teach us to weave exercise into our days. When I do her exercises I feel better. She has workshop series on all the different, troublesome parts of the body like knees, neck and shoulders, back, core etc. I really like her classes and podcasts.

Your Turn

Finally, what moving goal(s) have you made for yourself? What reminders and celebrations have you set up to help you make steady progress towards your moving goals? Please respond below in the comments. I don’t know about you, but I could use some accountability partners. Happy moving till next time. If you enjoyed this post you might want to read the update post here.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Please follow your doctor’s instructions on exercise. Also, some days are definitely high pain and/or low energy days and we need to listen to our bodies. Do what you can comfortably do and don’t compare your progress with other people.

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Till next time, Kathy